


Windy-Woo Tendencies

by AwatereJones



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bladesinger, F/M, Gen, M/M, windy-woo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-13 04:35:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29895720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwatereJones/pseuds/AwatereJones
Summary: So you all wanted more and here it is. Another Windy-Woo story from the double Take/Bladesinger verse. Jack gets his own Windy-Woo that is clearly Ianto... but Not. As Not-Ianto struggles to find out who he is, the only thing that is true here is that Jack will never get another chance to say what he feels... to a Ianto. For all of you that asked.
Relationships: Gwen Cooper/Rhys Williams, Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones
Comments: 9
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

Jack sat on the roof looking over the city with that weird feeling one has when a task has been completed and everyone is happy with it except for you. He sighed and leaned back, flicking the crust of the sandwich he was eating at one of the many birds wandering about up here with him then watched the fight break out.

"That's where we differ, friends" he finally said "We might fight over something like you, but I don't see any of you pulling out a knife or a gun and blowing the other bird's head off."

Jack then smiled as he knew what Ianto would have said. Jack then said it in a NOT Welsh Accent "come on now Cariad, no thumbs."

"There you are"

Jack rolled his head to find the Doctor standing there, the sonic in his hand waving about as he examined the birds for signs of alienism. Jack really was too tired for this, looking back out over the city he had saved yet again… along with the planet that city rested on.

"Oh… by the way… your VM" the Doctor said suddenly, pointing at it "It made a weird noise."

"Oh, yeah. Something shorted out" Jack lifted his wrist to the Doctor could examine it, wave his sonic then grunt as it pinged to say it was back online. "Thanks."

As Jack went to lower it the Doctor seized it and lifted it close again. He touched the little pouch that had been slid under the main control panel and then looked at Jack with a silent question.

"Ianto" Jack said in a one word answer, pulling it back.

"Ianto?" the Doctor repeated "Ianto Jones?"

"It is a lock of his hair… from the morgue" Jack choked out, looking back out over the city again "No matter what happens, my VM survives, as long as I can find it, I still have a part of him with me"

"I have never seen you hang on to one like this" the Doctor said as he crouched and fiddled with the chalk covering on the roof "What is this here for?"

"Bird shit"

"Ewwwwwww" the Doctor dropped it and rubbed his hand on his pants with disgust as Jack grinned at the man believing him. Seems the Doctor can lie but does not expect it from others.

"I will never forget him, I ill always hold onto this… as much as I can for as long as I can" Jack rose and sighed, "and now I have to go help clean up this mess I made."

The Doctor watched Jack head for the door that would lead down to the street and he remembered Rose. Clara. River… oh River. Yes… some stay there in the back of your heart for a long time.

.

.

"Jack, come on…" the Doctor yelled as they ran along the corridor "I can hear them."

The Doctor was about to open the door of the ship's inner cargo hold but Jack beat him to it, pulling him back as the Veritraps exploded from the opening door, Jack caught full blast as the small flying piranha-like creatures ate him alive, his screams intense as he struggled down the corridor to lead them away from the Doctor so he could enter the room and save the day.

The Doctor was soon running with the captives, passing the remains and he paused, taking a moment to scoop Jack's… bits… into a container so he might come with. He was never leaving him behind again, not when Jack never left him.

They chucked the container into a side room then took off. The Doctor dropped people off and then took a moment to breathe, remember Jack and head into the room to see if he was regenerated yet. This was to be the first time the Doctor watched Jack 'become' from nothing. The first time he would see the pain, the horror… the punishing slowness that Jack's body endured as it reconstructed itself.

It was then that he picked up the VM and fingered it, cleaned it and considered things some more. He was old, not old-old but old enough to think of himself as a grown up now days. He was not the same Doctor that left Jack on that Game Station… hell … he had not been that Doctor for several faces… hearts… well… did they really change? Did HE really change? This man who spent an entire year watching a sunset with his wife? Just to irk out each day?

The Doctor made a decision, opening the little pouch and removing a few strands of hair from the lock of hair, surprised to find it soft, then replace it before placing the VM on the neatly folded clothes that he left for the man who was now more obviously humanoid as his skeletal system grew like spider webs.

The Doctor had a little job to do, someone owed him something and he thought he would never have need to cash it in but now… now he was curious to see if this would be the right decision.

Then again…

He could always cut and run right?


	2. it's just a name

Jack lay there with the deep seated knowledge he is on the TARDIS again. He felt the air on his freshly grown skin and sighed softly as he remembered the time Ianto had covered his bits with his waistcoat while regenerating, overcome with embarrassment for him.

With a groan that showed his age… even if the reset was a hunky late twenty something.. well… he seemed more of a young thirty something now. Each regen a little older of only by an hour or so each time. So… did this mean in time he would be regenerating as an old man? Unless he did the 'die every day' thing again, that was not something he really had to worry about, right? Nothing to lose your head over.

Jack calmly dressed and placed his VM on it's usual wrist, feeling weird. Something was different so he opened it and checked. The pouch was there, everything seemed fine. He put it down to the regen. It had been a hard one, left him hungry and slightly buzzed.

He wandered out to the kitchen, silently thanking the TARDIS for making it so close and the smells were amazing. He stepped into the kitchen to ask the Doctor if he had finally learnt what coffee was… god, a terrible thought… to find someone there he did not expect.

"Ianto?"

The man turned and he saw Ianto there, standing so still that he was like a wax work figure. If he had not seen him moving at first he might have believed him a statue. Then he blinked.

"Ianto?" Jack repeated, not sure if he should move towards him or not. I mean… what version was this "Ianto… what date is it for you?"

The eye roll told him that was not the right question as Ianto said in reply "I am not from a timeline Sir. I do believe I am… new."

"New." Jack repeated, now seeing a slight difference in the way he stood. This was not Ianto.

Not-Ianto canted his head "You do that a lot don't you. Repeat things when confused. I am not the one you knew… I am a… ghost? Er… a representation. I have memories and some of the same bits but… I am … you are used to watching a video and I am the still photo of the scene you watch… in time I will become the moving image, the video… but not all the still shots are here yet."

Jack sat heavily "You are not Ianto."

"Well… yes and no" Not-Ianto replied "I am like … the smell left behind that tells you what was once there… what might be there again. I am a regen. In time, the memories of my donor will become more, the library in the DNA files will open and I will become more like the one I was… the one you knew but… I will never be him. I am something different. As close as you will get."

"You hair is darker" Jack agreed as he looked over the man "Your shoulders are slightly wider too."

Not-Ianto frowned. "Really? Anything else different?"

Jack leaned in close and sniffed him, making Not-Ianto giggle softly in a very un-Ianto way. "Your smell… it's not the same but… you are a new regen so… maybe in time, the coffee smell will be stronger. The spicy smell is different though."

"Spicy?" Not-Ianto stared at Jack and Jack saw it.

"Your eyes… they were always steely grey. They… they are a brilliant blue" Jack said with interest.

"Maybe it's a windy-Woo thing?" Not-Ianto asked as he settled into a chair."Blue is our colour after all."

"I don't know… you don't exactly come with a manual right?" Jack countered.

"I don't know Sir" Not-Ianto frowned then shrugged "who knows. Each is an enigma wrapped in confusion and energy."

"Your accent is stronger now" Jack admitted "you are getting more like him as we talk."

"I think… I think the longer we talk, the more I feel…me. I remember… a glass wall with smoke behind it… it's where I died right? Was it smoke inhalation or something?" Not-Ianto frowned.

"Gas."

"Ah. Something about… bloody beans?" Not-Ianto frowned "and… oh. Oh no… no…God."

Jack watched Not-Ianto rise from the chair and moved in a small circle, upset beyond control as something seemed to tear at him.

"Ianto?" Jack rose and reached for him "Are you OK?"

Not-Ianto slowly stopped revolving to stare at him then he said "No. No, I don't think I am. Don't… don't touch me. OK? You… how could you just… no."

Jack was left stunned as Not-Ianto strode from the room in patented Jones-Hit-n-Run fashion.

.

.

"Would it be easier to have no memoires at all?" The Doctor asked.

"Yes… no… I don't … it is all jumbled." Not-Ianto sighed, rubbing his face in a familiar way "I don't know. Part of me... well… most of me just wants him to hold me."

"Well… do that then. Even as human, you were always conflicted about things. The old you really self-hated a lot you know, never thought you were good enough for him" the Doctor explained "He is a good man that sometimes does bad things, necessary things. I have to admit I have sometimes used him for things I was unable to do myself… I know that is cowardly but Jack is… still Jack."

Not-Ianto sighed as he looked down at his hands on the table, then he said softly "Yeah. He still makes my heart skip."

"If it is easier, don't listen to the old voices, the memories are only that… things that already happened and cannot be changed so why dwell? Jack lives in the here and now, try that too. Listen to your heart and act… stop looking for past things as a guide. After all… at the end of the day you are not Ianto Jones… you are… the butterfly emerged from the chrysalis he was zipped into." The Doctor advised and he got a snort in return.

"Right… a body bag style cocoon …. OK."


	3. a rose by any other name...

Jack was not sure how to proceed. Not-Ianto acted so 'Iantoish' that Jack guessed where he was, when he found him again in a large room full of plants like a friggin jungle, complete with animals moving about.

"Remember Owen's Glass House?" Not-Ianto asked "Naked Hine-n-Seek."

"Yeah" Jack smiled softly as he was rewarded with one if Ianto's coy smiles.

"You cheated."

"Well.. I improvised."

"You cheated. You always cheated" Not-Ianto smiled, then let out that deep bellowing laugh Jack remembered so well. Ah, god. There it is. Ianto. Jack was about to say something when the Doctor stormed in and told them he had to land.

.

.

"What is it?"

"A Market Planet. Think… a flea market that is vast and endless" Jack said as he took Not-Ianto's' hand and pulled him along.

They tried different food and it was discovered that the taste buds were slightly different too. This Not-Ianto liked spicier foods than Ianto had. More Jack's taste. He is Windy-Woo and they are built to adapt and assimilate so maybe it was Jack influencing him. He had noticed some of his mannerisms creeping in. It should have worried him but it didn't. This was Not-Ianto after all. Bound to be differences. Jack thought about it as he watched Not-Ianto examine a stall of glass and knew that if it had been another replica of Ianto he might not have been able to accept. After all, in the House of the Dead Ianto had been so damned clear that he didn't' want Jack to do that to him. Maybe this Not-Ianto was not so bad at all.

Jack wandered over to find Not-Ianto locked in some sort of inner battle as the vendor waited patiently.

"What's going on?" Jack asked the man since Not-Ianto seemed oblivious to him even being there.

"I told him… I said each piece can speak to your soul. He chose these three and now is unable to decide which one is him." The man replied and Jack looked at the pieces of carefully spun glass.

A little red dragon.

A blue rose.

And a rainbow of multicolour fashioned into a butterfly.

"Wow. That's a lot sweetie" Jack said softly "A dragon for Wales. The rose is… what … I am not sure but the rainbow butterfly…that is surprising."

"A dragon for Ianto. The Blue rose is you of course and the rainbow butterfly… that is Windy Woo." Ianto explained.

Jack frowned "So… you see me as a part of you?"

"Of course you are. A smidgeon of me… of course. Don't' be silly, you are Javic. No… this is too hard. Who am I supposed to be? Who do you want me to be? Choose" Not-Ianto demanded with a pout "You choose. Who am I to be for you?"

Jack did not know what to say, startled by the anger that was REALLY not Mister Passive Aggressive Jones. The Windy Woo spunk I guess. Finally Jack said "We will take all three. After all… they all represent part of your life so… they should be the beginning of your hoard, right?"

The sun came out as Ianto shone though and Jack watched with awe as he eyes seemed to lighten to an almost stormy sky. There he was. Ianto. Hidden in the argument, there.

Jack leaned in and kissed him, the blush so 'Ianto' as well that Jack wanted to hold him.

Then it was gone, the man accepting the box of trinkets shy and accommodating yet still slightly flighty, like a wild horse with the whites of its eyes showing.

But it was a start, right?

.

.

"Pretty" the Doctor said as he stood looking at the shelf in Jack's room with the three little glass things on it. "He is starting his hoard here?"

"Looks like it." Jack said happily. "He still seems conflicted. It is like he is having an internal debate all the time. I mean… Ianto did that too. I knew sometimes he was arguing in his head but this is different."

"Why the blue rose?" the doctor frowned as he looked at them "I get the red dragon and even the pretty butterfly but… the rose?"

"Me. I am the rose. Blue is my favourite colour and what I wore the most. Also, uniform blue. The rose is because I can be pretty when blooming I guess and let's not forget the thorns that can make you bleed. Pretty yet dangerous." Jack said "Actually, come to think of it… I would have chosen this for me as well."

The Doctor stared at the shelf for a while then hummed to himself, going off in search of the Windy-Woo who had more on his mind than most.

.

.

"Kitty, kitty, kitty" Ianto was crouched, his hand out and fingers wriggling as the creature came from the foliage and the Doctor froze, watching the Lilos slither from the safety of the shadows to let him pet it. A dangerous and deadly venomous creature that hated… HATED… humans. It seemed to make a noise like purring as Ianto laughed and then started to sing.

Windy-Woo.

Ahhhhhh, he had forgotten how pretty they are.

"Ianto? We need to talk about that rose" he finally said and Ianto sighed, lifting his hand as the thing shot into the darkness.

"I know. I don't want to but I know."


	4. let's go with that then

"SO, I don't know how it happened but somehow it did" the Doctor said as he watched the man sitting opposite fiddle with a coaster. The Doctor didn't even know he had coasters for the cups but it looks like there are some shaped like fish of all things. Huh.

"Well… there are a couple of theories, the most likely that he was crying" Ianto said softly, "That is the most likely way. I have problems with that one though… since… things happened since."

"I understand now, I know why you were confused" the Doctor leaned back "I am sorry I did not understand it, I did not listen did I. Now, now I know. So there are several choices here … the most likely is to simply do as he wants you to but now I know the dynamics here we both know you will not be subservient to him."

"I never was. That is the problem. Ianto Jones was never a simpering fool… he just played the game. Jack also played the Captain role well but it was never him. Don't' you get it Doctor? We all wear a face. Not just you!" Ianto snorted "I know I have to choose who I am. I have to make my own mind up on who I will be. I can't try to live as I was, I cannot be who I was because I was not the same person I am now… clearly there were times and actions that were needed at the time and the shame or anger of those actions should not be mine to carry either."

He Doctor rose and left him sitting there. He had to have time.

"Jack" the Doctor called out "Come help me change out the rotator valves in the Flux room."

.

.

Ianto was back in the garden room. He was leaning against a tree. An apple tree actually, Sol 3 … Granny Smith. Ianto was holding an apple. He was looking at it intently like it had all the answers to the universe and Jack slid down to sit next to him, looking at the apple too.

"I have decided" Ianto finally said.

"OK?"

"I have listened to the voices in my head, looked at the memories of those who argue with one another like spoilt children… I have considered and let my Windy-Woo heart weigh everything. I am still so new, still becoming… you know that right? It can be weeks… even months before I am fully myself. But I have let my heart decide. My Windy-Woo heart, grown of flesh and blood, not memories and echoes. I have decided who I am."

"Good" Jack said softly "And I hope whoever that is… he has a place for me."

"Cariad… I have decided that I want to be Ianto. Of all the choices, he is the only one that is… well… right. I was made to be him, cultured and created… his voice and his memories seem the most real. The rest are simply echoes so… I am going to let go of all that. I am going to turn from the past and look forward. That is Windy-Woo too ya know. We live a very long time and if we hold onto everything then there is no room for the new. Right? You of all people understand that."

Jack took Ianto's face in his hands and pressed their lips together, the response was not only familiar… it was… Ianto. Finally, Jack felt the man he knew in his arms as Ianto leaned in, pressing Jack back to kiss him with more energy.

Ianto.

Jack clung to him, the relief and delight in finding his mate again so raw that he had to fight tears, Ianto's soft crooning as he stroked his face like coming home from a long period away at war or something.

"Ianto" he croaked "There you are!"

"Yes Cariad. Here I am" Ianto replied with a grin, his forehead resting against Jack's and Jack was comforted. This WAS Ianto. Not-Ianto seemed to have left, evacuated the space leaving the man behind that was supposed to be there.

What a relief.

.

.

"So… Ianto" the Doctor said slowly.

"Yes. That is my choice to make and the decision is now made. I shall be Ianto" he nodded.

"And when the Windy-Woo rushes in? The other?"

"If needed, I will embrace that side. If I need to be vicious, if I need to fight… I will accept that side of me but for now… I will let the dominant me be Ianto. Not just for him. Maybe a little for him, if only because I know the level of affection there that he still tries to hide out of fear… no. I remember being Ianto and I LIKED him sometimes. Comfortable. Yes. I don't have to second think myself, I don't have to analyze or do conflict resolution. Being Ianto if the most natural… easy of them."

The Doctor nodded, knowing that Ianto was speaking the truth.

If the Windy-Woo was ever cornered they might be in for a nasty surprise.

Because that 'other' him was not at all … Welsh.


	5. Tiger Pants

That night Ianto came to his bed, slipping between the covers and his hands were familiar. Ianto knew things, had learnt things over their time together and he didn't' hesitate to show Jack that he remembered those pressure points that made him yodel.

Later as Jack lay panting and slightly achy that he whispered "I have missed you Ianto. Oh man… my little Tiger."

"Tiger. You used to call me Tiger, Cariad"

"I did. You used to wear boxer shorts that were tiger stripes. Under your crisp suits and buttoned up outer shell you were a wild animal" Jack sighed "Tonight … I felt those claws. I have missed you."

Inot rolled on top of him and their kiss was gentle, more loving now as they revelled in reconnecting. Inside his heart and mind, Ianto Jones settled into this new vessel and the others slid into the darkness.

Ianto Jones was back!

.

.

"Yes but Jack... he is Windy-Woo. I know… I know he is Ianto as well but… Jack…tread carefully because he is still also a newling. A fledgling so fresh from the nest that he is still unable to fly. Remember that Ianto might be there but he is also a little pinch of something… wild. Exotic. Bitey."

"Come on Doctor… you didn't know Ianto like I did. I know this is not him, but it is a really nice gift, a wonderful thought and damn if he isn't the best substitute I can find. Really… the way I look at it… he IS Ianto. You come back with different bodies, faces, even voices. Still you right? I am looking at him the same. This is Ianto, just … revamped." Jack said with a slap of his hand on the table making both the Doctor and the man in the doorway jump.

Ianto stared at the Doctor long and hard before slipping back out of the room unseen by Jack.

This one was crafty.

"Right, where do you want to go now?"

.

.

"Home" Jack finally said "You left me with a mess to clean up, took me to make another mess to clean up and I can't keep layering them down like tht."

"Right. Gwen. You know… this might not bode well. She and Ianto had a love/hate sibling style relationship" The Doctor tried to warn him "He didn't know your feelings for her but… this one might bite back."

"I need to go back and help her with the new Torchwood. I promised!" Jack interrupted.

"OK" the Doctor sighed as he knew once Jack made that face it was all over.

.

.

"So… you understand?" Jack asked as he led Ianto along the street, the TARDIS already grinding away like she was late for a very important date… or at least her Mad Hatter was.

"Here we are" Jack said as he knocked, the door swinging open and the one on the other side squealing as she launched herself at Jack.

"Martha" Jack said tugging on her little mini braids, "Let me off."

"I soundly smack you… oh my god. Ianto?"

"This is Ianto Windy-Woo" Jack said, puling Ianto in beside him.

"I am a bio-engineered being that has been grown from a species called Bladesingers, or Wind talkers. Windy-Woo is our…ah.. pet name. If given a splash of DNA from someone, we can … grow as them. Their thoughts, memories, mannerisms… all transferred as natural transference. Like a turtle knows to get to the sea when it breaks from the egg… a Windy-Woo chick remembers the one it once was… or their memories help it grow into that person again… somewhat."

"Wow. That is a mouthful to get out" she grinned "You need to meet my husband Mickey. He will love you."

"Mickey Mouse!" Ianto roared pushing past her to enter and find the man inside, lifting him in a bear hug as Mickey Smith swarked with shock.

Jack followed, his own bear hug eerily simper as he also yelled "Mickey Mouse!"

"Captain Cheesecake?"

"That's Beefcake!" Ianto laughed as he stepped back and turned to Martha, his brilliantly bleu eyes twinkling "And Francine? Tish? Come on girl!"

"Here" Francine said softly "My goodness. Ianto Jones!"

"Hello there" he drew her into a hug and she accepted with surprise.

"JACKIE!" Tish laughed as Jack turned to catch her and swing her around as he laughed and called her his little sister from another mother.

Clive stood back and watched Ianto moving around the kitchen. He had been on the Valiant too, he remembered as well as they did, that thing that should never be spoken of and as he watched the man in the suit hug his daughter he remembered him too.

"Ianto Jones. The Red Dragon" Clive said out loud "The ground contact that helped Martha slip around."

"Yes, her pretend gun thing. That really stuffed him up, didn't it" Ianto laughed then he sobered up, his back arching for a second like he was remembering a hurt. He grimaced and turned to look at Jack "you told me… you told me it was not so bad. TYTNW … it was not so bad. You lying sack of… sorry. Sorry… I didn't mean that."

As quickly as Ianto showed anger, it was gone. A moment of pure thuggery that had everyone surprised, especially Jack who had NEVER seen Ianto erupt like that.

Must be the Windy-Woo in him, making him righteous.

Right?


End file.
